 Top 8, Sonic Fox vs. Combat. This is a match that we've actually seen before this year. This was actually an online match that we saw very early on in the game's lifespan between Fox and Combat. And Combat was actually able to win that tournament. It was kind of his real breakout performance with Johnny Cage. Now, fast forward, the clock's about a year. We're seeing a very different match now. Of course, Combat has had a lot more experience under his belt by this point. It's really kind of settled on the Johnny Cage and Gira's duo and Sonic Fox. I mean, they have been bringing quite the show with Ace of Naves Joker all day. And at this point, I'd be very surprised if we see anything else as you can see right up there. It is Joker vs. Johnny Cage. This is exactly what we expected. Fox is on a mission. They want to be able to win two World Finals back-to-back with the same character in two different games. And we can definitely see that Johnny Cage versus Joker. Game one of this top eight. It's going to be an interesting matchup right here. There's a lot of range, a lot of good buttons, but a lot of damage. Interestingly, the two characters in the game that can cancel their fatal blow. Now, this will be unique because they are the only characters in the game that can do that. And it opens up so much of their offense when they get low there. They're very comeback-heavy, right? They're very built for it, whereas Johnny Cage is more of that kind of like space control, kind of really good buttons as well as that comeback. It really is Ace of Naves. There's more of a mix-up, a rushed-out or it's set-to-play character. And that really fits Sonic Fox like a glove. Now the corner, this is where Fox wants you. Joker's buttons, the two-one is fantastic. Ace of Naves getting those launchers and the set-up tools. Absolute nightmare situation if you're back to the corner. Spicklewich grab, going to get a knockdown into decent positioning. And that two-one, just the magic string. And you're going to see that a lot from Fox here. Okay, getting clipped from the way up. Good wake-up attack gives Sonic Fox the advantage. The safety. Hang on a minute. Oh, and we're just talking about that cancel. Combat comes off it straight away for a bit confirmed. Chunky damage. Goes in for the meaty-down-one rising star. Fox is going to get hit by the cancel again. Round one, we saw two fatal blow cancels. I say you get used to seeing that a lot throughout the course of the series. Round two. Shouts to Shouting Fox in the background. No, Shouting Fox. What a game. And now, looking for a single button, but combat not going to pressure it. It's going to stick out that low all the same. The low is going to connect. Once more. Oh, his graphics got smaller. Ah, there we go. We're back. Oh, Johnny Cage with the magnatharms. I like the way combat is playing this. He's completely slowed things down. I feel like the worst thing you can do is just get really impatient and just give yourself to someone like Sonic Fox. Oh, and the second combat decides to be the one to start how things are going, immediate win punish into crushing blow. That's exactly why combat has been more defensive in this round that is really paying off. And immediately, another rising star is going to do the job. One round each at this point. Combat, what really started that sequence was a wake-up neutral jump. The hard reads, you've just got to have those guttural decisions. Whip, oh, no! Speaking of which, there's a big combo opportunity. All the backup as well, maybe trying to scout out the roll. Oh, the delay. The hell, he's clipped by the low again. Oh, not a hit too. Yes, Sonic Fox was trying to press something off the ground, but combat said absolutely not. And he knows Fox is going to respect the frames, runs in and enforces a grab almost immediately. Get out of there, interactable. He's going to low again, loads of patience. Oh, Fox. Oh, he tried to whiff punish, but not close enough. That's a big hit, though. No bar to get more damage, but keeps the life lead. Nonetheless, the roar jumping, almost catching entirely, but the down four does recover just in time. Here comes the mid. This mid string, there is that overhead that you know Fox. They're not shy of pulling the trigger. The tech, the dirty tech. Remember, forward throw. If the fail blows on cool down. Speaking of which, that's going to be the round. Close your eyes. Oh! This is a family show for crying out loud. Now immediately, what we saw there was just, I assume here, Admin's probably just mentioning to lower the health bar. I imagine they're just going to go quickly and lower the health bar, of course. Thank you very much for being patient with us. But a good game one for Sonic Fox, that Joker, that Ace of Naves Joker, re-showing why it can be so dangerous in the hands of a good player, right? It just, it takes so much of the boxes. There are a lot of similarities to be made between Joker and Johnny Cater in terms of, like, overall range and just kind of neutral options. But then Ace of Naves really kind of throws on, originally most of us just assumed it would be a very kind of mix-up heavy, like, primarily set play. Whereas I feel like, even though that's still there for Ace of Naves, it's not really the main point of the variation. It's about kind of just keeping your turn as opposed to constant mix-ups. You also get a perfect example over why that Joker has arguably the scariest fatal blow game in the game because the tech, the combat, made the amazing read to tech for throw. And then the next grab, still crushing blow, because it takes a while for fatal blow to actually come back and let's pull down. It's gonna benefit flawless block combat, bringing out the clutch execution. And now, now that's actually another interesting dynamic from C here, though, because you have Sonic Fox, who, when you watch Sonic Fox play, they flawless block barely ever at all. Like, if ever, it's so rare. And you have someone like combat, they look on it very much, a flawless block master. So that's really gonna be interesting to see how that makes a difference here. Because that was huge, that entire sequence started a flawless blocking-awake-up attack. And it forced this Fox onto the back foot. When combat's able to kind of get the keys and the ignition, Johnny Cage is a momentum character! And that's a trade, very expensive, down two to obtain, no full combo. The combat got some damage, but lost all that defensive bar, that's definitely not what you want to see, especially when you're back to the wall like this. Sonic Fox kind of keeping that pressure about sweet distance, does not want to get too close and let combat get out for free. Always keep an eye on that amplified jack in the box. It tests your match-up knowledge massively. And that situation in combat, try to trade flawless block up to no jump in for you, mate. And now the low again, blocks. You can scout the low into overhead. It's very tight though, very tight. Speaking of overhead, Bird Boy Beatdown's gonna connect. Remember, three of those on Amplify, the next one, meetlessly crushing blows. And we've seen Sonic Fox use that crushing blow perfectly all of the day, so you know absolutely that they are keeping count of how many they've got. Now projectile game, combat's gonna be pretty careful with this. The range of the forward to one, makes those projectiles kind of scary. Nope, counter hit though, so there's not gonna be a crushing blow there. Now I like that choice, even though combat is losing, every time Sonic Fox has gone for the box in the neutral, combat has just responded with forceful straight. Wait, no! That must have been a mistake going to hold up. That was either an execution error or like a next level, next level read. I'm inclined to think execution error purely because of how much health that Fox had left. Even the fatal blow connecting there would have been arguably a little bit of a waste. Commits into the nut punch. Not gonna hit its mark, unfortunately, Fox. Too patient and the mid again, Ablify. We're building towards that crushing blow, really turns Joker into a win-condition character. This is what we're saying before about, it's not really kind of set-play mid-sub. It's more about just keeping a box under your opponent so it's always your turn. It's about just constantly making the read like, oh, is he gonna press, is he gonna block? Do I get to move? Do I have to press a button like, it's so hard to deal with in the heat of the moment. Big jump kick! Simple confirmed, gonna take a nice chunk of damage there as combat. The Ablify backboard play really does just reset things. Creates that automatic disengage back to neutral. But Fox, they have the likely, this is where they wanna be, escape. Try to take the grab, but remember grabs, they are in turn 50-50s for Tekken. Now the forceful game, combat, bit by bit, bringing himself back in for that. Advancing high so much, but long arm of the Joker. Fox has fatal blow, that's what they want. No cancel though. We can definitely see the end of the game. If a clean opening comes here, the fatal blow is gonna be the skeleton key for the damage. They cancel, one, two, three, it's safe on block. And from this point, both players, fatal blow's gonna be ready. Fox, the backboard forward, just wasting enough time to allow another one. Oh no! Feels so good. Just about enough damage there, you could say, just about. Fox played the end of that game perfectly, using two of the backboard forwards on arm, to just waste time. We had about four seconds roughly for the fatal blow to come back. The two offensive bars used just to guarantee the time is there. And then when the fatal blow comes back, use it to win. That's one of the scariest things about the Joker, right? That kind of like jumping jack. That's a universal move. That's really plus on block if you amplify it. Your opponent kind of has to deal with it. And with the tools of ace and naves at the same time, the jack in the box underneath and the long buttons, it's scary. Absolutely, combat, I mean, he's been playing fantastically this series too. It's just, Fox, the fatal blow game is just so strong. And it's really kind of that trump card. Two times in a row, challenge the amplified jack in the box and you pay the price. No punish. I mean, I could have been much more than it was. Oh, okay. Now over here. Fox is really fishing for that. Bird Boy Beatdown really wants to get the crushing blow ready. Fatal blows and play. Oh no, Oscar, you shall receive. Okay, so this does like a billion damage. I wonder if this is actually going to kill. It is one of the highest damage fatal blows in the game. Oh my goodness. That's a lot of damage for a two hit. My goodness. Bro, two hits into fatal blow, 43%. Let's go. The Joker's not very scary. He's a mean guy. The Joker doesn't play fair. Here we go. Potentially mad point here for Fox. That's huge. That is huge. That cost him his jaw right there. Here we go. More amplify. Every single time that connects, combat's going to sweat more and more because the damage of the crushing blow. I think that's it. The crushing blow out must be there by now. And one more clean opening. Combat's basically dead. Oh no. Okay, it was one off. Even Sonic Fox thought it was going to be there, but combat's going to lifeline. Okay, I can actually maybe make a comeback. Dash cancel. Remember, this is outtake. There's no camera. There's no shade crushing blow. To work projectiles, that jump kick hurts. It's a big time. And just right there, combat. A little bit less, don't do it. Surely not. There we go. By the way, there is a 0% chance we were expecting like the jack of the box into mercy. Can we talk about this fatality for a second?